Shigeo Otake: Tarot

The wonderfully surreal tarot of Shigeo Otake, on the theme of hallucinogenic mushrooms, has been published in book form, though not as actual cards. Otake has produced a number of illustrated books and seems especially inspired by Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'. His style incorporates soft, organic, forms, which flow and metamorphose. He has obviously closely studied artists such as Brueghel and the early surrealists, such as Tanguy and Delvaux. Each of his tarot cards are based on a particular species of mushroom, and it seems that in some cases he takes its actual natural form as the starting point for his imagery.